About Nancy

I always kept a journal. In fact, I still have them. Sometimes I read them to remember exactly how I felt when I was younger.

When I was in tenth grade I THE MOST WONDERFUL English teacher, Miss Gilmartin. She encouraged me to submit my writing to magazines and contests. Thanks to her, my first publishing credit was a poem published in Seventeen Magazine that year.

But, as you can see from the photo, I didn’t do all my reading indoors. Sometimes I brought my books outside. And when I wasn’t reading, I was searching for frog, turtles, and salamanders.

I took my love of the outdoors to college with me where I studied biology and chemistry. When I wasn’t in the laboratory learning about the chemical that makes fireflies light, I was outside doing fieldwork.

My passion for writing, photography and the environment all came together my senior year. I served as president of the science club, editor of the college’s literary magazine, and was an intern at Audubon Magazine. As you can tell, I was pretty busy.

After college, I worked as a contributing editor and freelance writer for several magazines and newspapers. I also served on my local Audubon Society Board and became a Girl Scout leader when my daughter entered kindergarten.

It was my editor at Family Fun Magazine who introduced me to my first book editor. The result was my first book, Sunny Days and Starry Nights.

Bio for Schools and Media:

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years.

Her 2016 title THE STORY OF SEEDS: From Mendel’s Garden to Your Plate, and How There’s More of Less To Eat Around The World introduces older readers to the importance of seeds, farming, and the crisis we currently face. It received the Green Earth Book Award and many other accolades.

Her latest is BACK FROM THE BRINK: Saving Animals from Extinction. Other books include BEASTLY BRAINS: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel, Crystal Kite Award winner SNIFFER DOGS: How Dogs (and Their Noses) Save the World and MISSION POLAR BEAR RESCUE.

Her research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia and she loves sharing her adventures with her readers. She has conducted programs at the Boston Children’s Museum, Atlanta Zoo, Tennessee Aquarium, among others and has spoken at the Science Teachers Association of New York State and New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Honors:

Many of Nancy’s books have received recognitions, including an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, a Smithsonian Notable Book For Children, a NSTA Outstanding Science Trade title, a Crystal Kite Award, Green Earth Book Award, and a Junior Library Guild Selection. In addition to these accolades, she was honored to be the recipient of the 2007 New York State Outdoor Education Association’s Art and Literature Award for the body of her work. As a long-time environmental educator, she treasures this honor and hopes to empower more children with her books about the Earth.